


Love Bug

by 3ds_Allen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Keith gets bit by an alien bug, M/M, all the characters are there, but mostly Shiro does, i'm sure this idea has been done to death but who cares right, they all have to put up with his nonsense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-15 21:29:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11814543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3ds_Allen/pseuds/3ds_Allen
Summary: Keith gets bit by a strange bug on an alien planet, strange space sickness ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

 "Hey Keith, check out this funny looking thing." Lance said, his face close to a plant with large leaves. Normally Keith would tell him to stop screwing around but they had stopped at the planet for a rather rare break from fighting battles and responding to distress signals. The five of them were overjoyed when Allura told them that the planet had a similar atmosphere to earth, and it was completely safe to go without their armor on or anything. So, Keith gave in and walked over, leaning down to look as well. "Looks like a weird butterfly, huh?" He said. It did in fact look like a weird butterfly. It's wings were much larger than one though, with a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns on them as well. It was almost mesmerizing. Naturally, Keith decided he had to touch it. He was surprised it didn't fly off as soon as his hand got near it. In fact, it seemed eager to crawl up on to his finger.

 "Do you think Allura would let us bring this back on to the ship?" He asked, pulling it close to his face so he could get a better look.

 "Probably not. I don't think we need insects flying around the place." Lance shrugged.

 "I kinda like it though." Keith raised his other hand to gently touch it's tiny head but yanked his hand away when he felt a sharp pinch on his finger. He quickly yanked his hand back, a scowl on his face now.

 "What's wrong?" Lance asked.

 "It bit me." He told him, setting the bug back on the plant. "Really hard too." He looked at his finger which was starting to bleed. Around then he could hear Shiro calling for them from nearby, telling them they needed to head back to the ship. Keith gave one more glare at the weird bug before him and Lance headed back to meet up with the others.

* * *

 Keith didn't think to mention the bug bite to anyone, and for the rest of the day things ran as normal. He sure didn't think there was anything wrong when he went to bed either. No one could've expected anything would happen the next day.

* * *

 They'd all gathered in the dining room for breakfast, Keith being the only one who hadn't gotten there yet. Usually he woke up earlier than anyone so they were all a bit confused as to why he hadn't shown up yet. Eventually, Shiro was elected to go get him. He went to his room and knocked on the door but he got no response. 

 "Keith? Are you awake?" He asked, but still got no answer."I'm coming in." He warned him before entering the room. The lights were still off, and Keith was still curled up under a mess of blankets. He approached him quietly, already wondering if he wasn't feeling well or if he'd stayed up way too late the night before. He placed his hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. Keith shifted slightly, yawning and slowly opening his eyes. Immediately, Shiro could tell something was wrong when he saw that Keith's eyes looked... different. They were a pale pink color, and looked almost glassy. He looked up at him tiredly, his eyes still half lidded.

 "Shiro...?" He murmured.

 "Are you okay?" He asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and leaning down. "Do you feel sick?" He watched as a big sleepy smile spread across his face. That was all Shiro needed to know something was definitely wrong here.

 "I feel just fine." He said, dragging out the "i" in "fine". He lazily reached his hand up, placing it on Shiro's cheek. He had a bright blush across his face and the most loving look in his strangely colored eyes.

 "You're very sick." Shiro said immediately. He'd known Keith for years, longer than any of the other paladins had known him. Even as they got closer, Keith had never behaved like this. "Can you get up?" He asked him. Keith nodded slowly and got out of bed. He seemed like he was able to stand on his own two feet fine. Shiro stood up and placed the back of his hand against his forehead. He didn't seem to have a fever, and he seemed to be happy with Shiro just touching him, leaning into the touch with a lovesick smile on his face. "We need to go see Allura, okay?" He told him, and he just nodded, starting to follow him out of the room. At some point Keith decided it was necessary to hug his arm as they walked, which was how they entered the dining room.

 

"Woah is Keith sick?" Pidge asked as soon as she saw the smile on his face.

"I think so." Shiro told her.

"I'm not sick." Keith insisted, nuzzling his cheek against Shiro's arm. "I feel wonderful~"

"He's very sick." She said immediately.

"That's what I said." Shiro sighed and looked at Allura. "Think you can help us with this?" He asked. She stood up from her chair and came over to them, looking Keith over.

"We can definitely take a look at him. This is very strange though, especially if he says he feels fine." She said, clearly confused as to what was going on with him.

"I already said I'm fine." Keith whined, pouting now. He looked up at Shiro. "Tell her I'm fine, Shiro."

"You're not fine, Keith, you're sick." He told him.

"But I don't /feel/ sick." He said.

"Keith, just let us make sure nothings wrong, okay?" Allura said. Keith seemed to think it over, before finally asking,

"Is Shiro coming too?" He seemed pretty insistent that he didn't leave his side. Allura sighed.

"If that's what it will take, then yes, he is." She told him.

* * *

 

"Keith is going to kill you when he finds out you keep recording him." Pidge said bluntly as they crowded in the doorway to the infirmary. They would've just gone in but Lance insisted on hanging back and discreetly recording every strange thing Keith was doing because honestly, how could he not?

"I'll worry about that when the time comes." Lance said dismissively.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about him?" Hunk asked. "I mean, he definitely seems sick."

"It's not like he's dying or anything. Besides, someone has to hold this over his head and that someone is gonna be me." He said with a nod.

Allura and Coran seemed to be running all sorts of tests on him, but Keith didn't care. If anything, he was just moody that he wasn't hanging on to Shiro like before. Allura had more or less ignored their presence but finally she asked them to come in there.

"Lance, you were with him a lot on that planet yesterday. Did you see anything strange?" She asked him.

"Not really." He shrugged. "I mean, he did get bit by this weird bug, but he seemed fine after that."

"A weird bug? What did it look like?" She asked, a worried frown on her face as she glanced back at Keith, who had gone back to hugging Shiro tightly. Shiro definitely seemed a little bit awkward, but had decided to just hug him back, gently patting his head with one hand, which Keith seemed to really enjoy.

"It was kind of like a butterfly I guess- well, okay it had a kind of small body? But really big wings with all sorts of crazy colors and patterns." Lance explained it as best he could. He knew he should've taken a picture of the thing. "Keith seemed to really like it, he wanted to bring it back, but then it bit him so we just left it." She asked Coran to see if he could find anything from that planet matching his description, and while he did that Lance went back to recording Keith, who could easily see he was doing so, but didn't seem to care very much.

"Lance, are you recording this?" Shiro asked him, disapproval obvious in his tone.

"Duh." He rolled his eyes. "Someone has to document this. For science." He snickered.

"Lance, is this the bug that bit Keith?" Allura asked, standing by Coran in front of a screen. Pulled up on the screen was a picture of the exact bug he'd mentioned, as well as a whole lot of Altean writing.

"That's the one! He seemed really mesmerized by it." He said.

"What did you find out about it?" Shiro asked Coran.

"It's an Istea, a rare species from the planet Foyrus. I'm surprised he even came across one." Coran started. "They're a very strange species, and their bites will cause a person to feel extreme feelings of love and adoration for one they already have feelings for."

They all slowly turned to look where Keith was hanging on to Shiro, a big dumb smile still on his face. Everyone knew exactly what this meant but no one was fixing to say it. They may have been mature enough to be tasked with defending the universe, piloting giant lions, and fighting aliens, but that didn't mean they didn't need their dose of drama stemming from other's romantic relationships and if they were fixing to get that from Shiro and Keith, then so be it.

"Is there a cure for this?" Shiro asked. "Or will a healing pod help?" He couldn't say he /didn't/ like having Keith hugging him and looking at him with such adoration in his eyes, but he didn't want it like this, not because of some weird space sickness that had him displaying his feelings before he'd even had a chance to address them himself.

"He isn't hurt so I don't think any time in the pod will help him, but this says that you can get a cure for it using the same kind of bug that bit him." Allura explained, reading off the screen.

"Then we should get back to that planet as soon as possible. Especially if this is gonna be a long time thing without the cure." He said, looking down at Keith. He was pretty sure that Keith didn't even care what he was saying, the look of pure love never left his face.

"I dunno, don't you think he seems happier this way?" Pidge snickered. "I doubt he's smiled more than this in his entire life."

"That's nice and all but don't you think this could be a bit inconvenient when it comes to battles? Besides, I don't think Keith would like this." He said.

"He seems happy right now." Lance pointed out. Keith giggled, something so unlike him they all went silent and stared at him.

"I'm very happy as long as Shiro's here with me~" He said. Allura couldn't help but giggle.

"I must say, it's very sweet to see him so infatuated with you, Shiro."

"Shiro's much cuter than anything I do." Keith giggled, and as sappy as everything he said was, that didn't stop Shiro from thinking he was absolutely adorable as his face went bright red.

"I'm going to save him anymore embarrassment and take him back to his room." Shiro sighed, prying Keith off him only to have him grab his arm. He led him back to his room, but when he tried to leave Keith seemed to get distressed, holding on to his arm tighter, a worried look crossing his face.

"Are you leaving me?" He asked. He looked like a puppy someone had just kicked, Shiro couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Keith, I need to go see the others, just stay here okay?" He said gently.

"But then I'll be lonely!" He whined. Shiro sighed and led him over to his bed, sitting down with him.

"If I stay here with you for a while, will you be alright?" He asked. Keith nodded, hugging his arm. Shiro finally gave in. "Alright, then I'll stay." It was going to be rough waiting for them to find a cure.

 


	2. Chapter 2

They tried to go about things as normal the next day. Shiro had had to stay with Keith until he fell asleep the night before, otherwise Keith would've followed him back to his own room. Which he would've been fine with if it was /Keith/ and not this lovesick teenager that used to be the Keith he knew.

 

 Of course, when Keith woke up and Shiro was gone that morning, he was quickly out of bed to go find him. He ran into Lance in the hallway.

 

 "Hey Keith, where's Shiro?" He asked, impressed that Keith was even functioning without Shiro nearby. Allura had said that this sickness would make him extremely distressed whenever Shiro wasn't around. Judging from his expression, Keith was definitely upset.

 

 "I don't know, have you seen him?" He asked.

 

 "No, but I can help you look." He offered. Just remembering what Allura and Coran said, he didn't exactly want Keith to have an emotional breakdown wandering the castle looking for him on his own. He liked to mess with him, but he didn't want him to be downright miserable. Keith nodded quickly and they eventually found Shiro with Allura on the bridge, discussing the cure needed for Keith's affliction.

 

 As soon as he saw him Keith darted over to Shiro, hugging him tightly around his waist. Shiro seemed a little surprised at first just from the suddenness of it all, but quickly settled his arm around Keith before going back to talking to Allura. Had it not been for the look on Keith's face, the scene would almost look like a normal couple. Naturally, Lance had to get a few pictures of the happy couple.

 

 ***

 

 They weren't sure anytime on the training deck would be good for Keith, even though that was where he spent almost all of his free time. In fact, he passed up sparring with any of them or any of the training bots and instead chose to sit by and watch Shiro, absolutely infatuated with him. That is, until one of the bots Shiro was up against tried to attack him from _behind_.

 

 He was just a blur of movement and his luxite blade and it was the first time since this sickness that Keith acted even remotely like himself, absolutely _destroying_  that thing. The only thing off was how frantic, almost animalistic his movements were. His eyes were wide, his breathing heavy. Shiro immediately called off the other one before facing Keith, putting a hand on his shoulder.

 

 "Keith, calm down." He said slowly. Keith seemed to somewhat relax, still breathing heavily though as he looked up at him.

 

 "You could've been hurt." He said seriously, looking incredibly worried.

 

 "Just relax, I'm fine." His soothing tone was enough for Keith to fully relax, putting his blade away before hugging Shiro tightly.

 

 "I don't want you to be hurt…" He murmured. Shiro gently patted his head.

 

 "It's okay now, Keith." He told him. He waited until Keith had loosened his grip before pulling him off him and leading him back to where he'd been sitting before, advising him to sit down and try not to worry. Keith easily obeyed, and soon later Keith had gone back to watching Shiro as happily as before.

 

***

 

 They wound up going back to the planet in order to find the bug needed for the cure. The five of them had been sent out to hunt one down. Keith and Shiro had gone off together while the other three went together. Keith seemed overjoyed to be out there with Shiro.

 

 Originally they were going to leave Keith on the ship, but that would prove to be a problem if they didn't return soon enough. Coran also told them that the bugs would be attracted to someone already infected, so it was all around a good idea to bring Keith along.

 

 It was an act of God they managed to get separated. Shiro knew something was off when he didn't feel Keith's weight hanging off his arm, something he'd grown accustomed to rather quickly. Looking around, he couldn't see him anywhere, as they were in such a forested area. He called out for him but didn't get a response. Now he was just worried as he began frantically searching for him.

 

 He found him sitting in the middle of a small clearing, trembling, knees pulled up to his chest, fingers tanged in his hair. The clear signs of some sort of emotional distress. They weren't joking when they said the bugs would be attracted to him, they had practically flocked to him. There were two on his head, two on one shoulder, one on the other, one crawling up his arm, and about three had settled on his back. That didn't even include the countless fluttering around him or on the ground. If not for the fact Keith was clearly upset, he would've found the scene before him adorable.

 

 He approached him and knelt down, gently touching his arm.

 

 "Keith…?" He said softly. Keith looked up at him quickly, and it was obvious he'd been crying. As soon as he looked at him he nearly jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. The force was enough to knock him down and he wound up on his back, Keith on top of him.

 

 "I couldn't find you!" He cried, his eyes wide and scared.

 

 "Keith, hey, it's ok." He told him, hoping to comfort him as he hugged him loosely. "I'm here now, okay?" He smiled at him. He didn't seem convinced and just buried his face in his chest, still trying to calm down. Shiro started to run his hand through his hair, which was something he knew would always calm him down.

 

 "Please don't leave me again…" He murmured after sometime.

 

 "I'm not going to leave you, Keith."

 

 "… Promise…?"

 

 "Promise." Keith looked up at him, sitting up so he was more or less straddling him.

 

 "Okay…" He said quietly. He started to get off Shiro, allowing him to sit up. He reached for his hand, looking around the clearing. Shiro quickly noticed movement by the entrance to the clearing, and wasn't surprised that the other three had crowded to watch them. He caught Lance's eye and sighed, waving them over.

 

 "Well, we found the thing alright." Hunk said, letting one of them settle on his hand.

 

 "Let's take one and get back." Shiro said, starting to get up. He ended up pulling Keith up with him, and once again he hugged his arm. By now it was almost comfortable to have him that way.

 

 ***

 

 He let Keith follow him to bed that night. He wouldn't dare to try anything with him, not when he was in this state, but he would've felt bad if Keith woke up without him in the middle of the night and started to panic. The good thing about his state of mind was that at the very least, Shiro could convince him to find something to sleep in other than his normal clothes. He never understood how Keith could stand that.

 

 It was awkward when they laid down at first. Out of respect for him, Shiro hadn't even wanted to lay too close to him. It didn’t matter though, because Keith cuddled up to him on his own, a content little smile on his face. When Shiro finally relented and hugged him close, he looked like he was practically in heaven. He was half asleep when Keith sleepily leaned up and kissed his cheek, and he was thankful the darkness of the room hid how red his face went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought there would be 50+ of these kinds of fics for every ship in the fandom so I'm so surprised to find out there didn't seem to be any for sheith.   
> I also wanted to say thanks for all the nice comments, they really help me keep writing!


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